PBBM orders PNP, DILG to boost cybersecurity

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered both the Philippine National Police and the Department of Interior and Local Government to improve the nation's cyber security measures in light of an increase in cybercrimes in the final quarter of 2023.

In a Palace Briefing on Tuesday, PNP Chief Benjamin Acorda said that Marcos wants to train PNP personnel and invest in technology to address cybercrime and cyber security threats.

Peace and order indicator provided by government authorities noted a 10 percent decline from July 2022 to January 2024 compared to the period between December 2020 and June 2022. However, cybercrimes in the nation experienced an increase.

According to Acorda, the five most common cybercrimes from July 2022 to January 2024 were fraudulent activities or estafa, accounting for approximately 15,000 cases; unauthorized access with more than 4,800 cases; identity theft with over 2,300 cases; online defamation with over 2,000 cases; and credit card fraud with nearly 2,000 cases.

Recent disclosures by the Department of Information and Communications Technology also mentioned that it recorded cyberattacks on government websites that seemed to originate in China.

“As instructed by our President, we are intensifying, we are capacitating our police officers on the ground,” Acorda said.

While acknowledging that PNP's Cybercrime Group only conducts regional operations, Acorda said "(Marcos) wants all concerned personnel to become well-equipped."

"This time we are training our personnel at the police stations and at the municipal level so we will have police officers trained to handle cybercrimes,” Acorda added.

In addition to enhancing the country's cyber infrastructure through the training of police personnel, DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr announced plans to establish a National Cybercrime Training Institute aimed at intensifying law enforcement training nationwide.

"We will have, under the Public Safety College, a National Cybercrime Training Institute. By next week or the most a month, I will sign this...And this will cater primarily to our police force," Abalos said in the same briefing.

According to Abalos, cybercrime is a "very technical and specialized field," and because it pays so well, experts who are educated to combat it are usually "pirated."

Abalos added that the agency's goal is to prepare police officers to handle cybercrime allegations that come in at the local or municipal police station level.

The PNP said in January 2023 that it would be focusing on combating the surge in cases of cybercrime in the country, as the 2023 Asia Scam Report said the Philippines has the highest shopping fraud rate among the 11 Asian economies surveyed.